Weighing-machine.



' S. D. KINNE.

. WEIGHING MACHINE. APPLICATION IILED' 001 .25, 1903. v 1,074,123. I vPatentedSept. 30,1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

S. D. KINNE.

WEIGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION/FILED OUT. 2B, 1903.

Patented Sept. 30; 1918.

3SHEETSSHEET 2.

Wilma sea s. 1).. KINNB. WEIGHING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED OUT. 28, 1903.

1,074,123, V n Patented 3915:.

anvenfo'z UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL KINNE, OF ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, .ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE CONVEYING WEIGHER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

WEIGHING-MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL D. KINNE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ann Arbor, in the county of Washtenaw and State of Michigan, have invented new'and useful Improvements in \Veighing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to weighing machines, and has for its object the production of a continuously operated machine of simple construction by means of which the weight of materials transported by conveyers may be measured and registered while being transpoited.

It is a desideratum of importance in handling large quantities of materials by means of conveyors, as in the piling of coal' in storage and the recovery of the same from storage or in the handling of other materials in large quantities, to have means connected directly with the conveying apparatus and continuously operated thereby to weigh the material handled while, in transit on the cohveycr. Various forms of apparatus have been lused to weigh materials andled by conlveyers either before being fed to the conveyer or after having been discharged from the conveyer.- The weighing devices commonly employed with cenveyers are known to the trade as weighing hoppers and they are open to various objections, among which may be mentioned heavy cost, inac curacy, wantof durability and inconvenience in use in many cases where weighing devices are extremely desirable.

The present invention is designed to take place of the devices mentioned and to per form theirfunction in a more satisfactory manner.

Every embodiment of the invention as hereinafter fully described consists, gen

- orally speaking, of asimple form of apparatus adapted for use in connection with a belt eonveyer cf any of the ordinary types to register the weight of the material which passes over the conveyor belt so as to show at any time just how much material has been carried by the belt. The principles of themvention may, however, be embodied in apparatus adapted for use with conveyers of In describing the invention, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, in

Specification of Letters Patent.

'- Application filed October 28, 1903.

shown in Fig. 5.

Patented'Sept. so, ioia. Serial No. 178,882.

which are illustrated several different forms ofembodiment of the: invention, each capable of carrying the same into practical operation.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of one form of the weighing machine. Fig. 2 is a view lookingfrom the side of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is aview showing the arrangement' of the operating shaft of the weighing machine with a set of idlers s01 iewhat different from those shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of a modified form of the invention. Fig. 6 is a view from the side of the structure shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a plan View of the apparatus Fig. 8 is a view of a modified form of driving mechanism for the registering apparatus. Fig. 9 is a detail View from Fig. 8. Figs. 10, 11, 12, 13, and 1 1 are diagrams illustrating the operation of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, in which corresponding parts are designated by the same reference characters, 1 designates a bed of planking supported on longitudinal side beams 2-2 which form a support for the shaft 8 upon which are mounted the beltreturn pulleys 4, the shaft 3 being rotatably mounted in suitable bearing blocks 5. Upon the upper side of the bed 1, upon which are i'nonnted the idlers upon which the conveying belt is supported, there is mounted an arched frame 6 comprising the vertical side portions 7 which are channeled on the inner faces, as shown in Fig; 3, and the curved top 8 which is provided in the middle with an opening for the passage of a. rod 9 carrying an idler-supporting frame 10. The frame 10 c nsists of vertical side portions 11 which fit within the channels of the side portions 7 of the frame 6, as shown in Fig. 3, and a top portion 12 comp-rising the horizontal' part to which the rod 9 is secured and inclined portions at the sides thereof leading to the vertical side portions. In the frame 10, which is mounted for vertical movement within the channeled sides of the frame 6', are supported the shaft sections 13,

1st and 15,.upon which are journaled idler pulleys 16, 17 and 18. The principal support for the shaft sections 13, 14 and 15 is afforded by the transverse bar 19 which connects the vertical frame members 11 at the bottom and has extending upward therefrom l the lower end of which is formed a socket the uprights upon the upper ends of 41 within which is journaled the'lower end which are formed bearing blocks 21 to reof the vertical shaft 42 by means of which ceive the ends of the shaft 14 and the-inner the registering mechanism in the casing ends of the shafts l3 and 15. is actuated. The shaft 42 is provided near The frame '10 is supported within the its lower end with a small roll 43 presenting frame 6 in the position shown in Fig. 1 by a narrow periphery which may be brought means of a spring; 22, which; encircles the into and out of contact with the cone 30 by rod 9 and is secured in position by means turning a thumb nut 44 upon the threaded 10 ofa nut 23 upon} the threaded upper end end of a member 45, which projects from a of the stem. The rod 9 will be made of any block 46 under shelf 37and has an enlargesuitable length to provide for the compresment 45 in which a slot 45" is made for the sion of the spring when the frame is de-, passage of shaft 42. The member 45 also pressed, but in order to save space 1n illusbears a compression spring 47 which presses 5 tration, both the :rod and spring are shown against the upperpart of. the bracket arm as broken intermediate of their ends. and tends to force the casing 39 and the Journaled in the side members 11 of the bracket arm with the structure supported frame 10 and extending through a slot 6 in thereby outward from the-frame 6.

one of the side members of the frame dis a In Figs. 1 and 2 the members of the apgo shaft 24 which bears a small roll 25 arparatus are shown in the position occupied ranged for contact with the under surface When no material is being carried by the of the idler 16, and in order to insure conbelt and the roll 43 lies just below the apex tinuous contact of roll 25 and idler 16, there f the Gone 30', so that ifthe belt be set in are preferably provided in the standards20 motion movement will be imparted to the as springs 26, supporting at-their. tops semipulley 14 and to the mechanism operatively circular bearing blocks 27, which are pressed Connected therewith, but will not impart g i t the unde l sid f h ft 24, v A1 0 movement to the roll43 and the shaft 42 mounted on the frame 10 at one side thereof upon which it is" rigidly secured. Conse and projecting through the slot 6 is a supq lcntly, the hands which are shown in front so porting arm 28, which affords abearing for f the dials of the registering mechanism a short shaft29 having rigidly secured to its wil n ot' move, but as soon as any material lower end a, 3011330, The gone 30 and the 1S upon the bclihillle frame 10 Will. be h ft 25) are so g d th t on th t r forced downward against the tension of side of the cone its surface lies tangent to a Sprmg'22 and the cone 30 will move down- 35 i l h i N ward with the frame, causing its outer sur In the constructicxnof the apparatus it is face t c me into contact with the periphery desirable to minimize friction in the bearof the roll 43. The rotation of the cone willings and to that enl l anti-friction bearings impart movement to the roll 43 and the shaft of recognized type should be employed 42, so setting in motion the registering 40 wherever ibl PS th t f b a ings mechanismin the casing 89 and causing the to be employed is a matter of choice, and movement of the hands over the dials at a will be readily determined by any one skilled rate proportional to the speed of rotation of in machine construction and design, it is the cone and to the distance from the apex deemed unnecessary to illustrate any special of the cone to the point of contact of the roll 45 type of hearings or to indicate the location 45 with the outer surface of the cone. As of anti-friction hearings in the apparatus. the roll 25 is kept constantly in contact with v In order to impart movement to the cone the idler 14, the shaft 24 will always be To- 30 at a speed proportional to that of the belt 'tated at a speed proportional ,to the rate of which travels over pulleys 13, 14 and 15, a travel of the belt, and by means of the bevel I small bevel pinion 34 is mounted on the end gearing connecting the shaft 24 and theeone 5 olsliaft 24 and a bevel gear to intermesh 30, the rotation of the cone 30 will be kept therewith is formed on the base of the cone proportional to that of the shaft 24. Con- 10, as indicated at 37: sequently, the shaft 42 which is driven by Projecting horizontally outward from the the contact of the roll 4?, with the cone 30 55, vertical member 7 of the frame (3 adjacent will be driven at a speed wh ch will vary to the cone 30 is a shelf 37 having upturned with the rate of travel of the belt and with edges 38 forming ways in which a casing the amount of depression of the cone 30, for '39 is mounted for horizontal movement: the circu-n'iference of the cone at any point The casing 3.) contains any suitable form of is in direct proportion to, the distance of that 7 -30 registering a maratus, preferably one adaptpoint from the apex. inasmuch as the cone ed to be set back to zero when desirwl and 30 is mounted upon an arm projecting from provided with dials, as :-li \\'n in Fig. 2 for the frame 10, in' which the belt supporting registering in ions the quantity of material idlers are mounted, the depression ol the carried over the bolt. li' jcr-ting downward cone will obviously be equal to the depr si'rom the casing M i:-- a bracket arm 40 in sion of the frame 10, and as the frame 10 is 139 supported by means of the spiral spring 22 the depression of the frame with the in creaseof weight upon the belt will be ap- I which may be used in lieu of the idlers already described. In this modification of the invention, the idler pulleys, consisting of a middle pulley 51 and side pulleys 52'and 53 of tapering-form, are supported upon a single shaft 53 which is to be journaled in the arched frame 10. The roll 25 on the shaft 24 is replaced by a roll 25.neccssarily much larger than the roll 25 in order to come into contact with themiddle idler pulley 51. The connection of the shaft 24 with the registering mechanism,when bearing the roll 25 will not differ from that already described.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Fi s. 5, 6 and 7, the structure is especially adhpted for use in situations in which a machine of the type illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 could not be employed on account of the height thereof. In this modified form of the invention the arched. frame 6 is replaced by a pair of channeled uprights or standards 60, 61, the latter of which has a slot at its outer side. The idler pulleys, comprising a horizontal pulley 62 and a pair of inclined pulleys 63, (54 arranged in a plane parallel to that of the middle pulley, are all supported in upright supporting members 65 rising from a horizontal plate 66 having upturned guide lugs 67' at the sides arranged for sliding movementwithin the channeled uprights (30, 61. J ournaled in the guide lugs 67 and having one endprojecting through the slot in the standard 61, is a shaft 68 having secured thereon about midway between the lugs 67 a small roll 68) which is in frictional contact with'the middle idler pulley (32. At the end of the shaft 68 -which projects through standard 61 is a friction disk 70 having at the center a small depression 71. A bracket 72 is mounted on the outside of standard (51 at the top and this bracket has the edges of its horizontal arm 73 turned up to""form a channel in which a registering device of the character already described is'supportcd. The small roll 3 on the actuating shaft 42 is in this form of-the device normally at the center of the disk where the depression 71 will prevent contact of the roll with the surface of the disk. The depression 71 serves to prevent wear upon the roll 43 when the belt is traveling over the idlers without a load. If the disk 70 had no depression the rotation of the disk when the belt had no load thereon would soon produce flattened surfaces upon the roll and '77 in the bed 1.

. toward the frame 6.

prevent accurate registration. The plate 66 is yieldably'supported by means of a spring 7 5 resting in a cup 7 6 on the end of a screw The upper end of the spring 75 is engaged by a stud 78 on the underside of the plate 66 to prevent the slipping of the spring from its proper position.

In Fig. 8 there is illustrated another moditied form of embodiment of the invention in which the cone 30 is replaced by a cone 80 whose surface is generated by the revolution of a curved element and is flared toward the base. In lieu of.the spring used in the form of=the invention first described to force the registering mechanism away from the frame, a coil spring 81 is arranged outside of the bracket arm 40. on the arm 45 to force the registering mechanism inward The inward movement of the registering mechanism is limited by contact of the arm 40 with shoulders 45 on the member 45-which is slotted at 45 for the passage of the shaft 42. p

The general principle of operation of the several different forms of embodiment of the invention described in the foregoing paragraphs is the same, and, brietlystated, the principle of operation of the several forms is thatthe amount of material which rate of travel of the belt and the depression of the idlers upon which the belt is supported. If the amount of depression of the belt were at all times directly proportional to the weight of the material thereon the registering apparatus would always show exactly how much material had been carried in a given period, but this condition is seldom realized in actual practice for a variety of reasons which will be hereinafter explainedv in detail.

The first factor in the production of inaccuracy in the operation of the apparatus which must be provided for is the variation of the speed of the belt as it passes over the idlers. It will be obvious that, if the belt is traveling at a rapid rate, the momentum in a horizontal plane of the material on the belt will prevent the depression of the idlers to the same extent that they would be depressed if the belt were going slowly. Con- .sequently', in arranging the mechanism for driving the-register1ng apparatus, it must be assumed that the belt is to travel at a certain standard speed which may, for example,be three hundred feet perminute, and the registering mechanism arranged to give accurate results with a belt having such a speed. If the rate of travel of the belt is not quite uniform, but the average speed, is that for which the apparatus is set, the effect upon the registering apparatus will be practically the same as it a constant speed at. the desired rate were maintaii'ied, and variations in the speed may then be neg-- lccted.

' it the weighing mechanism is to be used with a belt whose averagespeed Will'be' registrations of a standard apparatus when used with belts traveling at other speeds I than the standard.

Itis, of course, desirable that the belt shall travel in a direction that isv as nearly horizontal as possible so that the t'ull ettec't ot' the weight of the .materials carried by the belt may be produced on the Weighing I apparatus, but if it,isiinpracticable to have" any portion of the belt travel in, a horizon tal plane, the registration obtained, froma weighing 'mechanisiii over which the belt travels in an'inclined plane may be multiplied by a constant,whfich willbe determined by the angle of the plane of travel of the belt to the horizontah I Another important factor in the production'of an 'aecurateregist ration of the total weightcarried by the belt is the uniform feed of material to the belt so that the material carried may be evenly distributed along the belt and all the parts of the belt be kept undersubstantially the same tension during the operl'it'ion of the weighing mechanism. l/Viih 'many i'naterials carried upon conveyor belts it is easy to insure uniformity in the feed of material to the belt, and when this is the case the action of the weighing mechanism will be most accurate. A simple in ans for effecting such uniformity of feed is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 14 and is of the type known as a .SCI'GW vane feeder, by means of which the material ted to the belt is uniformly distributed by means of a screw driven at a constant rate of speedand operated in a casing of circular crosssection. But under some circun'istances it is practically impossible to secure even approximate uniformity of feed, and sometimes some sections of the belt will be entirely bare and other p rtions heaped up with material. As a result of this condition the belt is not kept under uniform tension and the difiiculty of obtaining an accurate intaisurcincnt ot' the amount of material carried is inci"a'scd. In such cases the'bcst mode of procedure will be to employ a plurality of weighing mechanisms, as indicated in Fig. 123, in which W, W, W indie'ate diagrammatically three sepload placed on the belt will act with taken and the result obtained in that 1mii11-.-.

ner'will give a ClOSQ,.t11)1ia());llIl{tllOn,tO the correct figures.

Another factor which conditions is that, as the idlers oi the weighmg mechanism are depressed the tension of the belt is necessarily ncreased, and consequently an added increment of material after the idlers of the weighing mechanism have already been somewhatdepressed will not be PI'OdUCtIVB 01''. so great an effect in the i further depression ofthe idlers as it would have hadif the same additional weight had been placed upon an unloaded belt passing,- over idlers that had not been depressed. A

is illustrated in Fig 10, 11 and 12. Fig. 1.0

is'akliagiainniafic viewshowing a belt B traveling over ordinary idlers I, and showing the sag which always occurs bet-ween 'idlers'i'nouiited in fixed supports and due to the 'fleXibilit-y\ of the belt. In Fig. 11, ohe ot" the ordiiniry idlers I is replaced by a weighing mechanism and the increased sag ot'the belt atthef weighing mechanism EV when the belt, is loaded is indicated in dotted lines. Now, it" will easily be seen that when the belt is depressed to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 11, additional weight supplied to the belt over the-weighing ineehanisin \V will havc'- w stretch the belt beintertcres' with the accuracy of the registration under ordinar 1 \vay'in which this may be conpensated for t'ore depressing tin. weighing mechanism.

In order to eliminate thisit'actor and obtain the full ctt'cct of the Weight in depressing the \venelnn;- mechanism, the belt may be supported normally in the position shown 7 in solid lines in Fig. 12, so that the upper surface of the idlers of the mechanism will be above the plane of the upper surface of the ordinary sup iiorting idlers,; this bein 9;

the position occupiedby the weighing idlers when the belt is free of any load. Then, any

ert'ect freedom u )Oll the weighing mechanism, because the epression ot the Weighing idlcrs will be accompanied by no increase of tension in the 'belt. (911 the contrary, the

depression ot the weighing idlei's by the passage of material over them decreases slightly the tension of the belt, and this decrease in tension tends to vitiatc the accuracy of the registration. The effect, however, of the decrease in tension is slight, and it, as may be easily done, the sprint supporting the weighing idlcrs be so adjusted that the position to which the weighing idlers will be depressed by the average load carried by the belt is as much below the level of the supporting idlers as the normal position of the weighing idlers when the belt is running empty is above the supporting idlers the vitiating effect of this decrease in tension of the belt'will be obviated.

It is possible to compensate for any increase in tension upon the belt when loaded without arranging theweighing mechanism as shown in Fig. 12, and the mechanism shown in Figs. 8 and 9 isdesigned for this purpose. The cone 80 shown. in Fig. 8 and havinga flare toward the base is adapted for this purpose. Owing to the flare of the cone, the depression of the cone for the first half inch from the position occupied when the belt isrunning empty will have less effect upon the registering mechanism than the depression for a half inch after the cone has already been depressed to some extent, and by experiments with belts of different kinds the proper a belt of given dimensions may be easily determined so that the increased effect upon the operation of the registering mechanism due to the depression of the cone through a predetermined loaded may exactly counterbalance the lessened depressing e ect of an added increment .of weight after the-beltirs already loaded.

In the foregoing explanation of the principles of operation of the weighing mechanism, mention has not been made of the fact that it is to be assumed that the unloaded belt is presumed to be he t at a predetermined tension. This is the ordinary procedure in operating conveyer belts and practically all belt conveyers are provided with take-ups by means of which the tension of the belt when unloaded may be kept constant. In order that small variations in the tension of the unloaded belt may be quickly noted and corrected, it will be desirable to provide in connection with the ordinary take-up devices a dynamometer to indicate the degree of tension of the belt, but this forms no part of thg f resent invention, and hence has not been il ustrated.

In the foregoing paragraphs explainingthe factors to be taken account of in the weighing of materials while in transit on a conveyor, only the more important factors have been mentioned, as absolute accuracy in determining the weight of the material carried by conveyers is not essential. terials handled by conveyers are dealt with in such large quantities that small inaccuracies are of no moment and do not lessen the utility of the apparatus.

Moreover, one of the principal objects of the present invention is to make the weighing mechanism both simple and durable and adapt it for practical use under the conditions under which it/ must necessarily operate. Consequently, the aim has been to so construct and arrange the mechanism that elements,

changes there n as flare of the cone for space after the belt is.

large errors will be prevented and the small errors that are unavoidable be of such character that the registrations in excess of the actual weight carried will balance the regis trations that are below the actual weight carried, so that the total obtained will, be substantially. correct.

- While the preferred forms of embodiment of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is -to be understood that I do not desire to limit myself to the exact form,

proportions and mode of arrangement of the but reserve the right to make such do not depart from the spirit of the invention and lie within the scope of the appended claims.

It is also to be understood that the mechanism by which the registering devices are operated bears no relation to the form of idlers in which it is shown, and the friction disk-drive, shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7 may be interchanged with the cone and roller drive shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 or with the modified cone and rollers shown in Fig. 8.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination in a weighing ma-v chine of a conveyer belt, yieldably supported idle pulleys'upon which said belt'is carried, a yieldably supported rotatable shaft driven by one of said idle pulleys, a registering mechanism, said shaft and said registering mechanism whereby said registering mechanism is 0perated at a rate proportional to the rate of' rotation of said shaft, and the amount of its depression from its normal position.

2. The combination in a weighing machine of a conveyer belt, a frame, idle pul leys mounted in said frame over which said belt travels, a spring which supports saidand drivarranged between said registering mechanism and connections between and one of said idle pulleys, said driving.

mechanism being adapted to operate said registering mechanism at a rate proportional to the rate of rotation of the idle pulleys and to their depression.

3. The combination in a weighing machine of a conveyer belt, a yieldably supported frame, idle pulleys mountedon said frame over which said belt travels, a shaft rotatably mounted in said frame and driven by one of said pulleys, a registering mechanism, and driving mechanism for said registering mechanism operated by said shaft at aerate/proportional to the rate of rotation of the ."iaft and to the depression of the frame in which the shaft is mounted. ,3

4. The combination in a weighing machine of a conveyer belt, a frame, idle pulleys mounted in said frame over which said belt travels, a spring to suppoyt said frame,

means for adjusting the position of said framerelative to saicl spring, a registering.

mechanism and driving mechanism operated by one of said idle pulleys at a rate proportional to the rate of travel ofthe belt and the depression of the frame in which the idle pulleys are mounted. "z

5. The combination in a weighing machine of a conveyer belt, yieldably supported idle pulleys over which said conveyer belt travels, a registering mechanism, driving -o1n1ect1on between one of said idle pulleys I and said registering mechanism to operate said registering mechanism at a rate proand the depression of said idle pulleys, and

means for moving said registering mecha nism to break the driving connection between said idle pulley and the registering mechanism.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses SAMUEL D. KINNE.

YVitnesses i I D. OIGOODSPEED,

T. KEARNS.

portional to the rate of travel of said belt 15, 

